City of Auckland Morris Dancers

1977 to date

A Definitive Guide to the Origins of CAMD

There was a short synopis on the origins
of the City of Auckland Morris Dancers at: MSN Group: NZMorrisdancing
However no-one has written a definitive account of how and why the team was formed.

As a recent emigrant from the UK in 1973 I was teaching in the then
cultural backwoods of Hawera, Taranaki. Attempts at forming a folk song and dance club in
Hawera had not exactly succeeded not-with-standing the support of some excellent local
singers such as Jack Penman and Mike Harding. But I remember that we had an amazing folk
concert one night in the local high street café with guests such as Ron Craig up from
Wellington.

Then in 1977 I moved up to Auckland top join the staff of St. Peter's
College. In Auckland one Malcolm Clapp was already organising barn dances with the band
'Irish Stew.'

Once settled at St. Peter's College it was quickly noticed that the
school had a sports pavilion ideal for folk dancing and that it could be hired. Peter
Dorman and Vicky Young had been members of the Sealed Knot in the U.K. -an English Civil War re-enactment society. The Sealed
Knot also promoted English Country Dancing from early editions of Playford's Dancing
Master of 1651. Peter approached me with the idea of setting up a dance group to learn and
demonstrate these old dances. He had some old tapes of music, mainly from 78s. Eventually
this group became the AETDC or the Auckland English Traditional Dance Club (a website is
being constructed).

With Malcolm Clapp's expert accordion playing the AETDC display team
- mainly dancing Playford country dances as interpreted by Cecil Sharp - appeared at many
local events including a Medieval Fair, many shopping centres including Queen Street on
Friday nights (!!), at old people's homes, and other exotic venues such as Waiwera Thermal
Resport, etc. It also rehearsed for a professional role with one Curly Delmonte (once
owner of Poles Apart Folk Club). But we never got that job!! One of the more obscure gigs
was on Kelly Tarlton's ship wreck museum on a tall ship. AETDC also promoted and
ran a number of public barn dances with 'Irish Stew' or the 'Devonport Village Band' as
the main band with callers Chris Brady and/or Robert Raine. One memorable dance was held
in a local Central Auckand maori marae meeting house.

At this time (1977s?) Malcolm and I often talked at length (well
probably argued) about country dancing v.v. morris dancing. Then the QE2, on a world
cruise, docked at Auckland. I was at Devonport Folk Club that night and one 'Willum,' one
of the permanent crew, gave a performance of English folk songs, well drinking songs if I
remember rightly. During this he mentioned that he was a morris dancer [from Plymouth MM?]
and that there was a morris team on board the QE2. I remember that he was staggering about
a bit - I wasn't sure if this was the effect of being at the sea for so long or the local
beer!! Anyway afterwards I invited him to come to St. Peter's College to teach some of us
(AETDC members and friends) morris dancing. The next day he turned up with a ship
colleague called 'Dudley' [from Derbyshire MM?] and they taught us the rudiments of the
morris. We did 'Lads a Bunchum' from Adderbury using cricket stumps as sticks. The deputy
head of the school was fiddling about on the cricket wicket about 50 yards away yet was
quite oblivious that his cricket stumps were being used for morris dancing!!

That was the 'first' morris workshop in Auckland - well we thought so
at the time. BUT I had a feeling that English emigrants must have brought the morris and
country dancing over earlier. And so it proved.

During an extensive search of library catalogues I elicited that
English country dancing, sword and morris dancing may indeed been taught in Auckland and
elsewhere in NZ since at least the 1920s.

Apparently in the early 1920s a disciple of Cecil Sharp's, one Hilda
Taylor, had been trained by him and awarded the Advanced Certificate of the EFDS. She had
then emigrated to NZ. So in the 1920s she was teaching English country dancing and morris
dancing in schools and also around New Zealand. There is (or was) a bronz statuette of her
in the Dominion Art Gallery in Wellington (see below).

In the various library catalogues I found specific references to a
magazine called 'English Folklore in Dance and Song'
published in New Plymouth by one John Oliver. There were (still are) copies in
Christchurch Public Library, Christchurch University Library, and the Alexander Turnbull
Library in Wellington. Another bound set is in private ownership. The copies I have have
now been scanned and uploaded to the web. They make fascinating reading.

Sometime in early 1978 and fed up with teaching kids (and having had
my valuable racing bike stolen by one of them) I flew down to Christchurch for a job
interview outside of teaching. Whilst there I visited the Christchurch libraries and made
photocopies of the said NZ EFDS magazine. Many editions had the names and addresses of
members on the front page, and I quickly ascertained that John Oliver was then living in
Nelson. I diverted my return flight to visit him.

He was most welcoming. In his living room he demonstrated some
Bampton stepping and talked at length about the English morris and country dancing that he
had promoted in the 1930s and 1940s. When in England he had trained under Cecil Sharp and
also received the Advanced Certificate of the EFDS. He was also a member of Sharp's
'Travelling Morrice' team, Cambridge Morris Men, and he also helped to run the Cambridge University Country Dance
Group 'The Round.'

He gave me the ex-NZ Morris Men's kit (baldricks and bells), his copies of Sharp's
Morris Books and Country Dance Books, and some copies of his 'English Folklore in Dance and Song' magazine
published in the 1930s/40s. He also gave me a set of metal swords - locally produced.

But we still hadn't got a regular morris team.

Sometime in 1978 the idea was mooted for AETCD to be the first dance
team to welcome the sun on May Morning on top of Mount Eden - a local Auckland dormant
volcano. The first time we did this AETCD was photographed in silhouette on the top just
as the sun rose. That photo was on the front page of the Auckland Star and it also formed
the backdrop of the national news on NZBC that evening. We also got 't'-shirts made with
the same silhouette. I still have mine (2007). A communal Sellenger's Round was danced
around the trig point to finish off the morning.

This started a long run of early May mornings with breakfast in a
local hotel afterwards. On subsequent years AETDC was joined by CAMD, and the ritual is
still performed 30 years later (2007).

It was sometime later in 1978 that one Nigel Banallack (supposedly
ex-squire of White Horse Morris in Wiltshire) phoned Malcolm with regards to starting a
morris team. We visited Nigel's apartment. I remember he had a smock hanging up on the
wall. He said that he had been officially appointed by Bill Rutter of the EFDSS to promote
traditional folk dancing overseas. We agreed to start up a morris team with Nigel as
squire and bagman. The members of this - largely drawn from AETDC - were Malcolm Clapp -
muso; and dancers: Robert Raine, Heather Raine (né Culpin), Barrie Rodliffe, the Maskell
family, and others whom I forget (sorry - it has been 30 years). Nigel taught us a
few dances but I cannot remember which ones.

Incidentally the team has always been of mixed gender; it was that or
not dance at all.

Bearing in mind the heavy politics permeating the Auckland folk dance
scene at the time, it was decided to keep the City of Auckland Morris Dancers or CAMD as
the team became known, separate from AETDC - but the two teams shared just one musician.
Having just one musician did create problems when there were separate gigs, but generally
there was co-operation betwen the two teams, even if at times this was somewhat heated at
times. That was until Swiss accordion player Henry Falkner kindly agreed to learn to play
for the morris. I believe that he learnt the tunes from an early programmable calculator!!
(His account of his involvement is at: MSN Group: NZMorrisdancing)

The old NZ kit was quickly superseded in favour of distinctive red
tabards, half-length black trousers, and long white socks, topped with a black tri-corner
hat. Meanwhile the then Mayor of Auckland, the late Sir Dove - Meyer Robinson agreed to
become the patron, and the Auckland coat-of- arms was granted its use "in
perpetuity," one of only two groups in the City to be accorded this honour. The
original badges for the tabards were cut out of coloured felt.

Some months later the tabards were replaced by conventional morris
baldricks and the circular badges displaying the coat-of-arms on the front were screen
printed.

Due to various inter-personal issues Nigel Bannallack was voted out of
being squire and bagman and he left the team after a few months. Then we had news that an
experienced morris dancer from Essex - one Guy Mowat [ex-Chelmsford MM?] - was emigrating
to NZ. We decided to dance him into the country. Malcolm who was working for the Council
at the time borrowed a van. And we all turned up to dance in the arrivals area. The
Auckland Airport Authorities forbade us, however in true morris spirit we turned up and
danced anyway. [Roy Dommett has opined that "the morris should be disrespectful, but
not disreputable"!!].

Guy was a regular morris dancer (ex-Chelmsford I think) and was
quickly elected as the new squire of CAMD but to be honest I can't remember anything that
he taught us except maybe 'Knuckles A-Kimbo' and 'Upton on Severn' from Chelmsford MM. His
lovely wife Elaine was an expert clog dancer.

For one memorable weekend we held a festival of workshops with Guy
teaching morris, and Elaine teaching clog (in the kitchen). I think that this was at St.
Peter's. [Eventually Guy and Elaine left NZ to sail to Australia, but I heard that they
got ship-wrecked somewhere off the eastern coast of Oz.]

I remember that in 1978 many of us Auckland dancers piled down to
Wellington for an amazing Folk Festival. I also remember doing a long sword dance at
Wellington Railway Station when saying goodbye to a contingent from somewhere. I believe
that Robert Raine was driving our minibus back to Auckland with his full morris kit on
including bells and baldricks to the amusement of all whenever we stopped for food or a
loo break!!

In 1979 I initiated a Folk Dance Summer School in Palmerston North.
These were regular features of the NZ Society in the 1940s. The inspiration for ours was
from reports in John Oliver's magazine. At this we had at least one morris workshop,
country dance workshops by the ladies of Christchurch CDC (incl. Betty Moon, Kennah Moor,
Nancy Page), sword dancing and international dancing. See here for Google video of the Christchurch CDC
ladies. I think only one revival Folk Dance Summer School was ever held in the 1970s.
But one Irish dance teacher one Joan Prior may have organised another in the 1980s.

The first 'animal' character that CAMD had was a unicorn called
Austin. I'm not sure if he is still around. He was / is now complemented by a huge fluffy
dragon (whose name escapes me) that was a 10'th birthday present to the side. The photo
above is of Austin and friend.

In about 1986 CAMD celebrated its 10'th anniversary with a morris
tour and a party. I flew down from the U.K. especially for this. I don't remember much of
the tour - jet lag and beer had its toll - but I do remember the 'original' founding team
including myself dancing 'Princess Royal, Abingdon' in the original tabards at the party.
I guess that this was the last time the tabard kit was seen out. I also remember that
during the day a somewhat clapped out coach was hired and the morris tour involved dancing
on the summit of 10 volcanoes around the Auckland area. The coach engine boiled over at
one stage due to the front grill being covered with a 'CAMD 10'th Anniversary' banner!!
And after one stand one Henry muso. disappeared into a loo without telling anyone and got
left behind carrying his heavy accordion when the communal coach left.

I'm not sure how the team got on after late 1979; I'd left to go back
to the U.K. by then. So I leave it to others to complete the story. But I do find it
amazing that CAMD is STILL dancing and even has a junior side about to take the reigns. It
must be about to celebrate its 30'th anniversary!!

Chris Brady ex-CAMD (Sept. 2007)

=============================

Notes on a first NZ Morris Team

Early Morris in New Zealand

Researchers of early dance in NZ may think that during the European settlement of the
country in the 1800s that this was in a cultural and musical vacuum. However the music
scene was far reaching and varied ranging from formal to informal. Many pianos were
brought out in the emigrant sailing ships, brass bands were formed, local orchestras
played concerts, and quadrilles and other social dances were enjoyed everywhere. The
verandahs of the colonial houses were ideal for country dances, and the shanties (local
bars or pubs) were ideal for step dancing especially in Irish style. For a complete
description of music and dance in early NZ I thoroughly recommend "The Oxford
History of New Zealand Music by Thomson, John Mansfield."

"Now, Percy Manning lived in Oxford presumably as a
don (he must have been a don) and he was an antiquarian. He suddenly realised that there
were things to do and he employed what was euphemistically known as a geologist assistant
(the people who knew him said he was cad). He was a man called Carter who was paid to go
walking through the Cotswolds looking for Morris relics. He found pipe and tabors, the
mace, which was sort of platform of flowers which was sometimes carried in the Morris,
swords, cake tins (I think he bought one of the original Bampton cake tins). He also
interviewing dancers, getting lists of names of people who danced, details of the costume,
whether people were alive, what happened to them. That's how you discover that at about
1870 quite a few Morris sides emigrated en-bloc to New Zealand."

Unfortunately it appears that only a few - especially one Dave
Barnes in Wellington - has shown any interest in researching the old newspapers for
references to these immigrants. If an entire side emigrated then they would surely have
danced on the ship and continued to dance when they got there? AND if whole sides
emigrated to New Zealand, what about to Australia too? Maybe there are references in local
newspapers or the in old copies of the 'New Zealand Graphic'?

But recent (Sept. 2007) email correspondance with morris dancer David
Wintle has brought to light some very interesting research. He says:

"I imagine you probably have all
this stuff, but if you haven't it might help you to fill out some of the detail of early
morris - or nearly early morris - in NZ.

"At Idbury, for example, dancing
ceased owing to the emigration of the team leader to New Zealand" ... "A man
named Bayliss who had acted as fool for the Rissington morris set sailed for New Zealand;
while Richard Hedges, formerly the leader of the Shipton-under-Wychwood team, was
following the same route when he became a casualty on the Fitzpatrick when she sank off
the Cape of Good Hope in 1874. His married sons and grandsons had accompanied him, thus
removing the possibility of any future involvement of that particular branch of the Hedges
family with the Shipton morris side."

David opines: "I suspect that the
Shipton story is what lies behind Roy Dommett's assertion that sides emigrated to NZ en
masse. Unfortunately, this particular group didn't make it. There is a memorial on the
green at Shipton commemorating the Fitzpatrick didaster. I made a particular point of
seeking it out when the One Day Wonders danced there some years ago. To me it's one of
those might-have-been stories. We don't have the Shipton dances, but if the whole family
had survived to step off the ship at the other end of the journey, we might have had both
them and a NZ tradition."

"I dont know much detail
about the history, but it looks as though it wasnt just the depression that made
people decide to emigrate; there is a reasonable proportion of union officials amongst the
emigrants, so perhaps "troublemakers" were [also] encouraged to leave.

"If you look through it youll
see plenty of people who emigrated from the Wychwood area as well as other surrounding
villages, and many of them have the same family names as morris dancers listed by Keith
Chandler. Sure enough, the Hedges are there:

"Because of the many family
connections its pretty safe to suppose that some of the other immigrants must have
been morris dancers, and even more of them must have had a working knowledge of the
morris. However the only other person who I can identify with any confidence as an actual
morris dancer recorded by Keith Chandler is:

FRANKLIN
Lawrence 53, Milton-u-W, to Hawkes Bay, 1874 + p130
117

"Lawrence Franklin is listed by
Keith on p.192 of the Gazzetteer as a Milton dancer, born 1829, an agricultural labourer,
not found in any British census after 1871 and as having died some time after 1874.

"The more one goes into this
(and Ive only been digging for a day or two) the more one is led to believe
that there must have been enough dancers coming to NZ in the 1870s to make several viable
sides, people thrown together in cramped ships, bored out of their minds with little to
occupy them, probably people who already knew each other and knew of each other as
dancers. Surely they must have got together and danced  mustnt they?"

"This references two books: Arnold,
Rollo (1981) "That Farthest Promised Land", Victoria University Press,
Wellington, NZ and Simpson, Tony (1997) "The Immigrants", Godwit
Publishing Ltd, Auckland, NZ. Also an article written by Duncan Waugh and the late Tom
McQuay ... entitled "A Determined Emigrant" which includes part of the
annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for Oxfordshire in 1873 describing an
outbreak of fever in Ascott-under-Wychwood following a "tragic and abortive attempt
to emigrate to America."

[...snip...]

"Eli's father, William, was an
Ascott woodman, whose first wife, Lucy Harris had died in childbirth forty years earlier.
His second wife, Eli's mother, was Jemima Moss and the brother mentioned in the article
was probably 15 year old Charles, who was living with his mother in the 1871 Census. Eli's
three children were Elizabeth, Ellen and Eli. Evidently little Eli also died of typhus in
February 1874.

"It seems that at some stage, probably after
February, Eli went to work as a groom on the Nightingale farm, in Bishampton,
Worcestershire, where he met Jane Malins, "eloped" with her back to
Ascott-under-Wychwood, married her and together with Ellen left for NZ on the clipper ship
"Crusader", which left Plymouth on September 26, 1874. Eli's daughter Elizabeth
was left behind with her maternal grandparents, William and Maria Osman in Burford.

"Eli and Jane arrived in NZ , December 31 1874, after
a journey of 97 days. They went on to have 11 boys and one girl.

"Altogether, a party of 101 Oxfordshire emigrants,
led by George Allington, left on this sailing and some of the other Ascott-under-Wychwood
families on that particluar trip were Eli's brother Frederick, his wife Mary (another
Ascott Martyr also imprisoned with her baby) and their six children; Eli's half-brother
Edward; Peter Honeybone, his wife Miilicent and two children. Peter is Fanny Honeybone's
(the youngest Ascott Martyr) brother; and John and Caroline Timms with six children."

"The Ascot(t) martyrs were 16 women
who were imprisoned for working for the Agricultural Workers' Union in 1873. Again there
is a monument on the village green, an octagonal seat around a tree. Once again, I saw it
while on a 'One Day Wonders' tour many years ago.

"It seems as though many of the
"martyrs'" families later emigrated to NZ. I'm not sure whether that was
entirely voluntary or whether they were made unwelcome back home. The names are once again
morris families - Pratley, Moss, Honeybone, Timms."

Finally David opines:

I don't think I can do much
more from here (UK) than I have done towards looking at NZ morris (it was only the
result of a bit of idle wilfing) but if perhaps someone is stimulated by this to track
down some of those names in parish records and censuses at the NZ end, it might
produce interesting results. For example, if it could be proved that groups of
morris families settled together, that might suggest a context for a
19th-century NZ morris. That would narrow down the search for photos or local newspaper
reports. Alas, it's all far too late to get any actual dances.

Thank you for providing me with the
stimulus and the means for an enjoyable and (I hope) useful few hours of morris-related
surfing.

David Wintle

So now to the documented
references to English country dancing and morris dancing in New Zealand in the early
1920s. Apparently at that time a disciple of Cecil Sharp's, one Hilda Taylor, had been
trained by him and awarded the Advanced Certificate of the EFDS. She had then emigrated to
NZ. So in the 1920s she was teaching English country dancing and morris dancing at schools
and around New Zealand. There is (or was) a bronz statuette of her in the Dominion Art
Gallery in Wellington (see photo).

Then in the 1930s/1940s there was a huge rise in English country and
morris dancing with the arrival of one John Oliver. In England Cambridge Morris Men and
Cecil Sharp's 'Travelling Morrice' were central to the revival of Sharp-style morris
dancing and country dancing there. John Oliver (far right in photo) was a member of both
teams and trained under Sharp. He was a New Zealander attending Cambridge University.

When John returned to N.Z. he was instrumental in furthering the
English country dancing including a men's morris and sword dance team during the
1930s/40s. That was probably the very first morris team in New Zealand (until documentary
evidence is discovered from earlier newspaper reports).

By the 1950s it all seemed to die out, except for English country
dance clubs in Christchurch and Timaru.

In the 1970s, with a feeling that there SHOULD have been some folk
activities in N.Z. brought over by the many thousands of English immigrants, and after
much research in the various public library catalogues, I discovered that John was still
alive and living in Nelson. And so having had to fly to Chrstchurch for a job interview I
diverted my return fight to visit him. It was like striking gold. He was most welcoming
and he loaned me an amount of kit and material which subsequently helped to set up the
City of Auckland Morris and indeed their first kit was the old NZ MM kit of the 1940s!!

Apparently
there was a Courtney Archer in the 1940s team, who was a miller in Christchurch. He owned
Archer's Flour Mills at Rangiora. He had a black & white movie film of the team
dancing in the 1940s but I think that this got destroyed. In the late 1970s I offered to
pay to have it restored but he never replied. Various photos and articles of the morris
are described in the magazine 'English Folk Lore in
Dance and Song' published in New Plymouth by John Oliver during the 1940s. I believe
that Christchurch and Auckland Public Libraries have copies, as well as the Ralph Vaughan
William Library at C#H in London. There were 14 editions.

Cecil Sharp-style folk dance and song was very much the vogue during
the 1940s in NZ. The NZ Branch of the EFDSS was the very first overseas official branch.
Indeed there were more English country dance clubs in most of the towns in NZ than there
are Scottish Country dance clubs now!! The clubs were mainly of women, who danced in long
skirts and white plimsoles. They danced to EFDSS 78rpm records. They only ever danced
EFDSS 'official' dances - that is those dances published by Sharp in the Country Dance
Books, Morris Books, and Sword Book. They totally ignored the social quadrilles and old
time ballroom dances that pesisted in Australia into the mid-1900s.

I guess the early 1950s newspaper photo of the ladies of Wellington
dancing Flamborough is typical. See: http://chrisbrady.itgo.com/morris/nzdance.htm
I remember dancing morris in Wellington in the late-1970s, and after a dance some elderly
ladies came up and said that they used to do morris dancing. Not realising the
significance of them they got ignored, and much like the 'last Sussex morris dancer' that
Lucy Broadwood dismissed. I guess these ladies were never sought out and interviewed?

There is no evidence of there being any continuity between that team
and the current sides formed in the 1970/80s, excepting that the 1940s NZ Morris Men's kit
(see photo) was loaned by John Oliver to the newly formed City of Auckland side in 1977
before their own kit was devised.

And I wonder if anyone ever interviewed John Oliver before he died,
or tried to track down the other members of his team? They'd all be gone now though. Every
summer throughout the second world war annual Folk Dance Summer Schools were held, usually
organised by John Oliver. Descriptions of the activities at these can be read in the
magazines mentioned above.

There was supposed to have been an archive of material dedicated to
John Oliver somewhere in New Zealand but I have no details. There is nothing else on the
web about him nor about Hilda Taylor.

As an aside there's an excellent web site detailing many of Roy
Dommett's lectures about the history of morris dancing both of the kind performed in New
Zealand in the 1940s, and also of the kind now performed by modern teams. Also mention is
made of Tubby Reynold's important visit in 1990.

If anyone wants a copy of Roy Dommett's notes as published by Tony
Barrand try advertising on the Morris Mailing list at: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU or you could email
the Country Dance & Song Society (of America) or CDSS at: sales@cdss.org